Newsletter: Ticking Time Bonds: Homeowners face varying tax bills throughout San Diego County

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Homeowners throughout San Diego County — including those in some of the poorest districts — are paying hundreds of dollars in property taxes each year to pay for the financing of new and updated schools.

The tax burden can vary wildly, depending on such things as property values, number of property owners in a district, amount of the bonds and the kind of deal a school district negotiated.

For example, an inewsource analysis found that a family in the San Ysidro School District last year would have paid about 35 percent more — or about $150 — in bond taxes compared with a family in the Cardiff School District, an upscale beach community where houses are worth twice as much.

The median home value — that means half are higher and half are lower — in San Ysidro is $326,100. That means a median tax of $568 is needed to pay for about $329 million of bonds on the elementary and high school districts. In Cardiff, the median home value is $736,600 with a median bond tax bill of $420.

The median amount San Ysidro residents pay in bond taxes is second only to the Rancho Santa Fe School District, where the median house costs $1 million.